Stellar Blade developer Shift Up and publisher Sony are being sued...
over Stellar Blade. The plaintiff, a Louisiana-based film production company called, yes, Stellarblade, is alleging trademark infringement and claiming its business is being damaged by Shift Up's use of the name. The complaint, which has been viewed by IGN, was filed in a Louisiana court earlier this month by Stellarblade LLC and owner Griffith Chambers Mehaffey against Shift Up, Sony, and an unnamed insurance company that the plaintiff claims covers Sony Interactive Entertainment with liability insurance against the very allegations Stellarblade is bringing.
In the lawsuit, Stellarblade and Mehaffey claim that the Louisiana company has existed since 2010, providing "multimedia entertainment services" such as film, documentary, commercial, and music video production services. The lawsuit alleges that Mehaffey has owned stellarblade.com since 2006 and been using it in conjunction with his work since 2011.
Mehaffey notes that when Shift Up first announced its game, it was under the title Project Eve back in 2019 ( it was re-revealed in 2021 at a PlayStation Showcase under the same name ). However, the name was changed to Stellar Blade in 2022, and not long after in January of 2023, Shift Up first registered Stellar Blade as a video game-related trademark. Mehaffey registered his own trademark for Stellarblade in June of 2023, then send a cease and desist letter to Shift Up a month later.
Mehaffey claims that w.